Page 52 of Niccolo

He told me all about the six brothers.

Dario, the newly crowned don who was still in San Vittore, a notorious prison in Milan. He was slated for release in less than a week.

Adriano, the one with the vicious temper.

Massimo, a giant with an easygoing nature.

Valentino, the youngest – and a ladies’ man.

Roberto, the financial genius who handled the brothers’ money.

And Niccolo, the newly appointedconsigliere.

“Niccolo Machiavelli?” I asked wryly.

Fausto smiled. “Both the name and his nature fit.”

Then he threw a wrench into the mix.

“There’s also a Swede they’ve hired named Lars Henriksson. Dario befriended him in prison. In fact, it was Lars who foiled my various attempts to have Dario killed in San Vittore.”

“Killed how?”

“I have back-channel connections to most of the organized crime groups in Italy. All of them have members incarcerated in San Vittore. I put a bounty on my nephew’s head, but no one has been able to claim it, thanks to Lars,” Fausto said grumpily.

I frowned. “What’s so special about this guy that he can single-handedly stop mafia assassinations?”

“He was a member of the Swedish Special Forces – and briefly MI6.”

My eyes widened. “British Intelligence?”

“Yes. During a mission in Italy, he was apprehended by the police while in possession of unregistered guns. Hence the stint in San Vittore.”

Great.

Not only did I have to contend with a bunch of ordinary killers; now I had to factor in an elite military-trained one, as well.

“You said Lars was hired by the brothers. That suggests he’s no longer in prison.”

“He got out a few months ago. At Dario’s insistence, he came to work for my brother.”

“Before you had him killed?” I asked.

Fausto nodded. “Before I had him killed.”

“So if Lars is no longer in San Vittore, why can’t you have Dario assassinatednow?”

“Over the last four years, Lars trained my nephew and apparently turned him into a killing machine. I’ve upped the bounty to half a million euros, but Dario has left such a string of bodies in his wake that no one wants to make any more attempts. Not to mention that there are members of theCosa Nostrain San Vittore who run interference for him.”

“Why can’t you pay off the other members of theCosa Nostrato do the job? Or at least get out of the way?”

“I need to remain in good standing with them. If they knew I was trying to have my own nephew killed, the repercussions for me would be… unpleasant. Not to mention that someone would alert my other nephews, and all my plans would be for naught.” Fausto shrugged. “It doesn’t matter at this point. Dario gets out in four days, which isn’t enough time to do anything. We’ll handle him once he gets out.”

The Dario angle seemed to be a dead-end for now, so I focused on the Swede. “What’s Lars’s job with the family?”

“His formal title is the Head of Security, but I think Dario is grooming him to be the Enforcer.”

I raised one eyebrow. “A hitman?”

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